Advocating for salmon farming to achieve a low-carbon economy

Salmon farmers in British Columbia emit a barely visible carbon footprint, as B.C. Salmon Farmers Association (BCSFA) executive director John Paul Fraser wrote in his recent editorial in the Vancouver Sun.

That low footprint of “only 2.2 kilograms of carbon dioxide for every kilogram of edible fish produced,” is why Fraser is advocating for the industry to be one of the driving factors that could help the province of B.C. achieve a low-carbon economy – a decision made by the provincial government and the B.C. Business Council and announced on Dec. 5.

“This is all so critical,” he writes. “The world’s population is growing and it is hungry. Climate change is depleting our ability to grow food on land and warming waters are taking a heavy toll on pacific salmon.”

Fraser said ocean-based farming holds the advantage of being powered by clean ocean currents rather than the electricity and oil that land-based farming relies on.